American Inbound Answering Service: What It Is and How to Set One Up

Inbound means the calls are coming to you. A customer dials your business number, and instead of ringing your desk or rolling to voicemail, the call is answered by the service. The receptionist greets the caller, figures out what they need, and either handles it or collects the details for you.

A typical inbound call involves one or more of these jobs: answering questions about your hours, services and prices; taking a message with the caller's name, number and reason for calling; booking a new appointment; or passing along a request to change an existing appointment. When the caller asks something the service does not have an answer for, such as a price that is not on file, the right move is to take a message so you can follow up yourself.

With AllDayDesk, the receptionist is an AI trained on your saved business information. You can hear a personalized sample before you commit, and the sample does not create a real booking. Once you are live, calls, transcripts, summaries and bookings appear in your dashboard so you always know who called and why.

• Answers questions from your saved business details
• Takes a message when the answer or price is unknown
• Books new appointments once you have set up services and availability
• Shows every call, transcript and summary in your dashboard

You do not have to change your public phone number. You keep the number customers already know and forward incoming calls to the answering service. The exact forwarding steps depend on your phone carrier or phone system, so check which product you actually have before entering any codes.

Here are verified examples from major US carriers. On Verizon mobile, dial *72 plus the 10-digit destination to forward all calls, *71 for unanswered calls, and *73 to turn forwarding off; setup must be done from the phone while in Verizon coverage. On T-Mobile, **21*1 followed by the destination and # enables unconditional forwarding, **61*1 enables no-reply forwarding, and ##004# resets forwarding to defaults. On Optimum Business Phone, dial *72, wait for dial tone, then dial the destination; *73 turns it off. Spectrum Business Voice users manage forwarding in the SpectrumBusiness.net portal under Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager, choosing all calls or busy/no-answer. AT&T Phone for Business uses *72 for all calls, *92 for no answer, and *90 for busy, each followed by the destination and #.

One important exception: Google Voice does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so a Google Voice number is not a compatible path to an AI answering service. If you are unsure which product your carrier sold you, check your bill or ask support, because instructions differ even within the same brand.

• Verizon mobile: *72 + destination (all calls), *71 (unanswered), *73 to disable
• T-Mobile: **21*1 + destination # (all calls), **61*1 (no reply), ##004# to reset
• Optimum Business Phone: *72, wait for dial tone, dial destination; *73 disables
• Spectrum Business Voice: manage in the online portal under Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager
• AT&T Phone for Business: *72 (all), *92 (no answer), *90 (busy), each + destination, #
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to an automated answering system

Setup starts by choosing your business or entering its website so the service can pull in your details. You then check that the information is accurate, because the receptionist answers questions from what it has on file. Next you hear a personalized sample of how your calls would be answered. The sample is a preview only and does not create a real booking.

After you are happy with the sample, you choose your phone setup option. Instructions for forwarding depend on your phone service, as described above. Once you are live, new appointments go to the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default, once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer, you can optionally connect Google Calendar in Settings after connecting and authorizing your Google account.

Two limits are worth knowing up front. Changes to existing appointments are sent to you as requests, not confirmed changes, so you stay in control of your schedule. Call transfers to you are possible, but you must configure a destination and the rules for when transfers happen, and neither that the caller is picked up nor an immediate response is guaranteed.

• Choose your business or enter its website, then verify the details
• Hear a personalized sample before going live
• Forward your existing number using your carrier's steps
• New bookings land in the dashboard calendar by default; Google Calendar is an optional connection in Settings

Inbound answering services generally fall into three groups: human answering services, AI receptionists, and doing it yourself with voicemail. Human services staff calls with people; published starting prices include Ruby at $245 per month as of October 2026, while Smith.ai uses per-call pricing for its human receptionist service, so you should compare current quotes including included minutes or calls, overage rates, hours and contract terms. AnswerConnect also offers 24/7 live answering by people.

AI receptionists like AllDayDesk answer calls around the clock using your saved business information, with calls, transcripts and bookings visible in your dashboard. AllDayDesk is this site's own product, so weigh that when reading this comparison; these comparisons are based on documented features, not hands-on tests. An in-house receptionist, by contrast, does far more than answer phones, including greeting visitors and office tasks, so a phone service is not a full replacement for an employee.

A practical way to decide: if your calls need judgment, negotiation or handling sensitive matters, a human service may fit better. If your calls are mostly routine questions, messages and appointment booking, and you want coverage outside business hours, an AI receptionist is often the simpler starting point. Either way, confirm what happens when the service cannot answer a question; taking a message should be the default.

• Human services: people answer; verify current quotes, included calls and hours
• AI receptionists: answer around the clock from your saved business details
• In-house receptionist: broader duties, but a higher commitment than a phone service
• Ask any provider what happens when a question or price is unknown